Trainer Jorge Navarro Loaded for Claiming Crown

The 2018-19 "Championship Meet" will get underway at Gulfstream Park Dec. 1, and no one will be more thrilled than trainer Jorge Navarro that the opening-day program will feature the 20th edition of the Claiming Crown.

"This is a day I always look forward to. Claiming horses are what made me. I love the claiming game," he said. "I think there are so many horses out there that need the opportunity after people give up on them. That's why I love the claiming game—looking for that horse—and that's why I love the Claiming Crown."

Navarro has entered 16 horses in six of the nine races in the Claiming Crown (which offers $1.1 million in purses), an annual tribute to the blue-collar horses that provide the day-to-day foundation of the racing industry.

The 43-year-old trainer will be represented by three horses in the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel Stakes, which will headline the 11-race opening-day program. Last Year's Jewel winner, Flowers for Lisa, as well as Aztec Sense and Zulu, were entered to compete in the 14-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile stakes for horses that have started for a $35,000 claiming price or lower.

"If you asked me today which one of my horses is the one to beat, I can't answer that question," Navarro said. "All three are going into the race in perfect condition."

Flowers for Lisa, claimed for $20,000 by Flying P Stable at Monmouth Park in July 2017, registered a frontrunning, 1 1/2-length victory in last year's Claiming Crown Jewel.

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"Flowers for Lisa is coming into the race in great order. His last three races have been pretty big. We ran against Mind Your Biscuits last time (in the grade 3 Lukas Classic Stakes). I thought it was a big race," Navarro said. "I think he's coming into the race good right now. He's training really well."

Aztec Sense, claimed at Parx Racing for $12,500 in August 2017 at the urging of owner Joseph Besecker, enters the Jewel on a seven-race winning streak. The 5-year-old gelded son of Street Sense  won at first asking for his new connections in a first-level allowance before he finished a troubled fourth in the seven-furlong Claiming Crown Rapid Transit Stakes at Gulfstream last year. He has won his seven starts since that loss, including back-to-back stakes wins around two turns at Parx in his most recent starts.

"I give all the credit to the owner. In the beginning, he showed me nothing. I said, 'Let me take a chance in the one-other-than (allowance)," Navarro explained. "Paco Lopez jumped off and said, 'Jorge, this is a nice horse.' Look what we got."

Zulu, who finished second in the 2016 Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream when trained by Todd Pletcher, was claimed for $20,000 in Kentucky in June for Imaginary Stables and Glenn Ellis. The 5-year-old gelding finished second in a second-level optional-claiming allowance at Churchill Downs last time out.

"The horse ran a huge race. I think he'll move forward for the race. He's happy. He traveled great to Florida. I think, myself, he's the class of the race," Navarro said. "At one time we thought he was one of the Kentucky Derby favorites. Why not the Claiming Crown?"

Trainer Mike Maker, who finished in a tie with Navarro in the trainer standings last season, brings an even more impressive record into Saturday's Claiming Crown, having saddled the winners of a record 16 races in the annual opening-day event.

Maker entered a pair of recent claims in the Jewel—Hooties Racing and Michael Hui's Bad Student and David Staudacher's Race Me Home.

Bad Student, a 7-year-old gelding with 17 victories, was claimed for $40,000 at Belmont Park last time out.

"This will be the first time I've run him, but I've been very pleased with him," Maker said. "When we claimed him, we did it with the idea that his better races seem to be at a mile and an eighth."

Race Me Home, who was claimed for $50,000 at Churchill Sept. 14, debuted for his new connections with an optional-claiming starter allowance at Gulfstream Park West Nov. 4.

"We've only run him the one time, and he won the prep over at Gulfstream West for us. He ran a very nice race, and he continues to do well," Maker said. "I was very pleased. The horse was doing well. I was wanting to run him on the grass, but that race failed to fill, and luckily they talked me into trying the dirt."

Rich Daddy, claimed for $12,500 at Gulfstream in March 2017, is scheduled to make the switch from the Claiming Crown Iron Horse Stakes to the Jewel for owner/trainer Eddie Kenneally and HRH Racing. The 7-year-old gelding finished second in the 1 1/16-mile Iron Horse before he registered a 1 3/4-length win over Flowers for Lisa next time out in an optional-claiming allowance at Gulfstream.